1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to flexible composite pipe for conducting petroleum or other fluids offshore or on land and a method of controlling gaps within the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
A composite flexible pipe may be formed, in part, from composite tape stacks of laminated tape strips. The composite tape stacks may be helically wound onto a pipe to provide structure and support. Gaps may form between adjacent wrappings of the tape stacks, which may allow for blow through of a fluid barrier or layer that may be beneath the wrappings. However, advantageously, the gaps may provide flexibility to the wrapped layers so that there may be relative movement or spacing between adjacent layers, thereby allowing the pipe to bend and/or flex. Therefore, control over the gaps may be desired so as to prevent blow through of a fluid barrier, but allow flexibility in the pipe.
In traditional steel pipes, which may be flexible pipes, interlocking layers or wrappings may be employed to control the blow through and provide gap control. This is particularly prevalent in high-pressure applications, where pressure armor may be employed to provide resistance to internal and external pressure and mechanical crushing loads. The pressure armor may include interlocked metallic hoop strength layers and gaps may be controlled by only allowing a maximum separation between adjacent wraps to be the full extension of interlocked wraps. Furthermore, an internal pressure sheath material may be able to span the gap under a high internal pressure loading, thereby allowing some flexibility to the pipe, but also preventing blow through of the internal pressure sheath.
However, in the design of some flexible pipes, which may employ composite materials for reinforcement layers, and, particularly, flexible fiber reinforced pipe, there may be no interlocking layers. As such, gap control may be difficult to achieve effectively.